1613. 8vo. (16), (88) pp. With woodcut arms of the Pope on first and engraved arms of Savary de Brèves on final leaf of prelims. Contemp. blindstamped brown full calf with ornamental central and cornerpiece decorations. Marbled endpapers. The first book ever printed with the fine Arabic types of the Roman Typographia Savariana: the first Arabic edition of Robert Bellarmino's catechism, an abridgment of his "Dichiarazione piu copiosa della dottrina christiana" (1598). Translated by the Maronites Vittorio Scialac (d. 1635) and Gabriel Sionita (1577-1648). "Les traducteurs disent qu'ils ont ponctué l'arabe, changé et ajouté quelque chose au texte primitif de Bellarmin, mais avec son consentement. Ce volume rare est le premier publié avec les beaux charactères arabes de Savary" (de Backer/S.). The present copy does not contain the Latin text at all, hence it has only 88 unnumbered pages of text instead of the 171 numbered pages usually cited. This catechism and the Arabic-Latin Psalter produced the following year would remain the only works to leave the Typographia Savariana; the types have survived and are now in the archives of the Imprimerie Nationale in Paris. - Stains and traces of moisture. Old shelfmark labels to spine, cover and final flyleaf; bookplate of the Dutch Jesuit Seminary on final pastedown. Contemp. ms. notes to endpaper. Rare; only two copies in auction records (the last in 1999). Schnurrer 242. Smitskamp, PO 181. De Backer/Sommervogel I, 1188f. OCLC 491559247.